US military ship passes through strategic Taiwan Strait

File photo

The United States sent a Navy ship through the sensitive Taiwan Strait on Friday as the U.S. military increases the frequency of movement through the strategic waterway despite opposition from China.

"The ship's transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," the U.S. military said in a statement.

The military identified the ship as the Green Bay, an amphibious transport dock ship. The 180 km-wide (112 miles) Taiwan Strait separates self-ruled Taiwan from China, which claims the island as its sacred territory.